1. Field of the Invention
This invention relates generally to packaging of food products and more particularly to coating amorphous food products with an edible film that enables such food products to retain their shape so that they may be handled with ease for later use or packaged for commercial shipment.
2. Description of the Related Art
A variety of techniques and materials have been utilized for the packaging of various types of food products and medicine. Food packaging generally provides for the storage, shipping, and handling of food products. Consumer demand for easily-prepared and ready-to-eat foods has sparked much innovation in the food packaging industry. Several patents have issued relating to various aspects of packaging of food products.
U.S. Pat. No. 4,369,885, issued to Redmond, discloses a sealed package particularly adapted for storing, shipping, handling, and for supporting for use, after the cover is peeled off, an individual portion of a spreadable product such as butter, margarine, peanut butter and the like. The package comprises a stiff base member covered by a flexible sheet with the food product therebetween. Redmond's invention provides a package for containing a single serving of a semisolid food, but does not address the use and handling of the food outside of its non-edible package.
U.S. Pat. No. 5,312,641, issued to Castillo, discloses a non-spread, sliced peanut butter product containing chunky peanut butter, powdered egg white, flour, and an emulsifier. The ingredients are mixed together, pressed or extruded into sheets which are separated by waxed paper into pieces the size of a bread slice and about 0.2 inches thick. Castillo, Jr.'s invention provides a composition and texture different from that of conventional peanut butter.
U.S. Pat. No. 4,275,083, issued to Colten et al., discloses a storage-stable confection which does not require moisture-resistant packaging. The confection is prepared by dispersing granulated gasified candy in a matrix of flavored oleaginous material or by enrobing the confection with a layer of flavored oleaginous material. The confection provides the sense or organoleptic effects of sizzle combined with the taste of fruit, chocolate, peanut butter or carbonated beverage. The resultant confection is a solid.
U.S. Pat. No. 4,710,228, issued to Seaborne et al., discloses edible film coating compositions of low moisture permeability and their methods of preparation. The compositions comprise cross-linked, refined shellac and preferably an edible member having a reactive hydroxyl or acid moiety selected from the group consisting of edible sources of polyphenolics, edible sources of benzaldehyde and derivatives, acetylated monoglycerides and other edible chemical compounds. Shellac is cross-linked with the reactants in a dry, molten mixture by heating. The molten mixture is dissolved in a food grade solvent, applied to a substrate and dried. The coating is useful as a moisture barrier in composite food articles having phases in contact which differ substantially in water activity.
U.S. Pat. No. 4,915,971, issued to Fennema et al., discloses an edible film for retarding water transfer among components of a multicomponent food product. The film includes a base film having a hydrophilic polymer layer and a base film lipid layer. The base film lipid layer has a hydrophobic surface presented away from the hydrophilic polymer layer. An additional lipid layer is laminated to the hydrophobic surface of the base film lipid layer. The invention further includes a method for making the edible film and a food product incorporating it.
U.S. Pat. No. 5,401,518, issued to Adams et al., discloses an emulsion which provides an edible moisture barrier coating for foods. The emulsion is prepared by homogenizing an aqueous solution of a protein isolate and a mixture of a saturated lipid and emulsifier. The emulsion is coated onto a food product and cold-set using refrigeration, where the coating serves as a moisture barrier. It appears that the coating does not provide a film for handling a non-frozen, sticky, semisolid food products, such as peanut butter, jam or jelly, spreads made for sandwiches, such as certain cheese spreads, vegetable spreads and the like.
U.S. Pat. No. 5,130,151, issued to Averbach, discloses a method of making an edible moisture barrier consisting essentially of oleaginous material and wax. At least a portion of the oleaginous material is synthetic. This patent contemplates applying the barrier as a molten solution to a food product surface, cooling rapidly to form a continuous that prevents the migration of moisture into, out of, or between components of the food products.
A large number of moist and sticky food products, such as peanut butter, jelly, tuna fish salad, chicken salad, egg salad, pimento salad, etc. (herein generally referred to a "amorphous" food products), are utilized to make sandwiches every day. Such food products are typically packaged in container from which they are directly applied on bread slices to make sandwiches. Frequently, such sandwiches are stored for a period of time before they are consumed. For example, children take such sandwiches for eating at lunch time, which may be a few hours after such sandwiches are prepared. Sandwiches made with tuna salad, chicken salad, pimento salad and meat slices, tomatoes and other condiments are stored in refrigerated sections in stores for sale, which may occur from several hours to a couple of days after such sandwiches have been prepared. The moisture from such sandwich materials penetrate into the bread slices, which alters the taste and texture of the bread. Additionally, none of the above-described and other types of sticky and moist or amorphous food products is commercially available in individually wrapped slices, like cheese slices, are commonly available in ordinary grocery stores. It will be very useful to provide such materials in ready-to-use shapes, such as slices, that will retain their shapes and will not allow the moisture from such food products to transfer to the food materials (e.g. bread) to which they are applied.
Consumers will prefer that certain types of commonly used amorphous food products food products, especially peanut butter and jelly, are commercially available in forms which can be readily used to make sandwiches. Additionally, it will be desirable to make available films of edible material that can be placed between the bread and the desired amorphous food products, wherein the edible film will not alter the taste of the amorphous food products and will not allow the moisture from the amorphous food products to transfer to the outer material, thereby allowing the prepared sandwiches to be stored for longer periods of time. The amorphous food products with edible film would be easier to handle and easier to use compared to using such products out of containers. Consumers also want packaging that will present such food products as individual slices that will retain the taste and flavor of such food products.
Further, it is highly desirable to package such and other sticky food products in a manner that the packaged products will retain their shape and will be readily utilized to make sandwiches without affecting the original texture of the bread of the sandwich when stored for a period of time. Thus, there remains a need for preparing and packaging such sticky edible products in manners which would allow easy handling of such products and will not permit transfer of moisture from such products to other products which come in contact with such sticky products. None of the above-noted patents discloses specific manners of applying edible films to food products for making sandwiches or making slices of such materials with edible films thereon for later use in sandwiches.
The present invention addresses some of the above-noted problems and needs relating generally to the handling and use of sticky food products and provides methods of coating and/or covering such food products with edible, substantially non-sticky materials for use during preparation of such food products and methods for packaging such coated food products for long term storage, shipping and handling of such food products.